Prison denies cleric is smuggling messages

LONDON, April 5 (UPI) -- British authorities say they doubt claims that radical Islamic cleric Abu Qatada is smuggling out letters from his isolation cell in Long Lartin Prison.

Qatada, a Jordanian once known as Osama bin Laden's spiritual ambassador to Europe, is under such close observation he would be unable to smuggle communications via telephone, in writing or through the Internet, a spokesman for Britain's Prison Service told the BBC.

The Quilliam Foundation, a think-tank that monitors extremists, claims Qatada in recent months has released three letters from prison that appeared on the Web sites of his followers, the BBC reported.

The statements, published under Qatada's name, congratulated al-Qaida fighters and detailed life inside a British maximum security prison, foundation spokesman Ed Husain said.

Qatada recently lost a legal battle to remain in Great Britain and is asking the European Court of Human Rights to overturn a decision by Britain's Law Lords to extradite him to Jordan.